Independent Kingdom of Grador.

Razak was sitting in his throne room, his head leaning on the headrest. A good part of the morning had been spent listening to the complaints of his subjects on a variety of issues. He dismissed each one as soon as possible and shifted his focus onto the next. This was something he had been doing for a long while and he felt he was getting better with each passing day. The King was a man in his late early forties, 5'10 in height, and wore a decorated fur coat over his elegant clothes.

“Sire,” a soldier came rushing in and saluted him with a brisk salute.

“Make it quick,” Razak replied, his sound unwavering.

“Some of the refugees living in the northern plains have come seeking an audience with you,” the soldier said loud enough for everyone in the throne room to hear.

Suddenly the hall began to erupt with the many whispers going about from one person to the other. Razak rubbed his temples when he heard the word refugees. He knew almost every person in his small kingdom and there were only one group of refugees he had allowed to settle down inside the borders. The people from the east. 

‘They are usually a silent bunch of old farmers. What happened to make them come all the way here suddenly?’ Razak wondered.

“Let them in,” he said.

The soldier went back to the front and in a few minutes, four men and a woman came walking in through the door.

"Greetings your honor," said the man in front while everyone bowed to the King.

"State your name and purpose of this visit," Razak said authoritatively.

"We are the refugees living in the northern Plains, your majesty. My name is Mark and this lady beside me is Cassey, my wife," Mark said while pointing to his wife.

"The others are members of our village. We've come here to ask for your assistance."

"What do you need my help with?" 

"Monsters took our son," Mark said firmly.

"May his soul rest in peace," said someone in the room, many others nodding at those words.

"He is not dead," shouted Cassey, " my son is not dead."

"And why would he not be dead?" Razak asked.

"He isn't, I know it in my heart," Cassey replied, tears welling up in her eyes.

"That can't be treated as a ground for action," the king reasoned, " surely there must be something else to claim that he is alive."

"Any boy would die with a single strike from a monster, even if the monster were level five or lower. So there is no way your son could survive," said Ellenor, the king's only minister.

"He is not weak, not like others. In the four years he had been with us, we've known that he is different. He was always stronger than any child in his age and wiser. We know this for a fact."

The flimsy argument would have been overlooked by anyone in the court. Any parent would believe their child was special, it's only natural. But something caught Razak's attention.

"You've known him for four years, you say. If he is that young then there is no way he'll survive in the labyrinth," said the King mistaking the child was only four years old.

"He is seventeen now. He is our adoptive son. We've known him since he was thirteen," said Mark, trying to clarify their position.

"So how did you meet your son," Ellenor enquired.

"We were working in the fields when we saw him walking towards us."

The King shared a quick glance with his minister, who reciprocated with a sigh.

"So you claim that you found your adoptive son in the fields and he is stronger than an average human and he got abducted by the monsters and he could be alive even now. How many days has it been already?" Ellenor summarized the situation for everyone's sake.

"Three days and yes," came the firm reply from the parents.

"Then my answer to your request is no. Your son is already dead. Even if you claim he is stronger, how would you explain him surviving without any food for three days? The chances of him surviving are so small that it is not worth the risk," the words of the King were harsh but Mark wasn't ready to give up.

"Dead? My son is not dead. We never had any kids for so long that when he came to our lives we believed it was a gift from the heavens. We've watched him grow up to be a fine young man. A man who would one day help this country grow. We may be refugees, but we do have our rights. We've contributed to the growth of this place and sending a rescue party is the least you could do." By the time Mark finished, he was panting, sorrow and anger reflected in his every word.

"Your rights? You never had any rights, to begin with. Have you forgotten how you were begging me to protect you when your kingdom, your own people sent killers to hunt you down? So no. I don't owe you anything." The king's words sent shivers down the spines of everyone gathered in there.

"We are already stretched thin with patrolling the borders and defeating the monster, we can't send a search team into the dungeon without any proper proof that he is alive," Ellenor said, trying to reason with them.

"But sire," Mark pleaded, "He is our only son."

"It is settled. Now go. I don't have time to waste on this issue anymore," the king's words were final and the five member team went back, with both parents weeping along the way.

*****

The King retired to his room after a full day of hearing the pleas of the people. He stood on the balcony enjoying the view. The birds were flying in the sky and the garden in front of his room was filled with fruits and flowers. As he enjoyed the scenery he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in Elle," he said.

His only minister and his best friend came walking in, her face tired but a king's summon couldn't be ignored. She was in her late thirties and had pale blonde hair which reached up to her shoulders. She wore a yellow gown and her deep blue eyes made her look beautiful, even with the dark spots under her eyes.

"Don't call me when I'm about to sleep," she pouted.

"Always a sleepyhead, huh," the king mused.

"Tell me why you've called me. If it's something stupid I'll beat your ass up," she said, her legs tapping on the floor, irritation evident in her every word.

"You know you wouldn't be able to."

"I know. But it wouldn't hurt to try," came back the reply.

"Okay okay. Let's get down to business. What do you think about that kid who got abducted?"

"The issue of the refugees? That is a sorry excuse to get help from us. That kid probably wandered into a dungeon or he went inside one thinking about all the glory he could get by defeating some monsters. It wouldn't be the first time that has happened."

"That is possible," the king concurred.

"Why are we even discussing something as irrelevant as this. This has happened many times before and even with our best efforts we haven't been able to stop it completely. There will be some losses on our sides. It's unavoidable. And even if we were to send someone there is no guarantee that they would return safely," Ellenor said thinking back to the times when the rescue party had been wiped out completely.

"True. And yet something doesn't feel right," the king replied, "We have to send in someone to get that kid back."

"What? Are you out of your mind?" Elle was surprised.

"Maybe I am. Call it a gut feeling or something, but we need to do this."

 

"You and your gut feelings. Do you have any idea how many times that got me in trouble?" She was furious.

"Once?" He said sheepishly.

"Try a hundred. Good Gods, why did I ever let you become the king." 

Elle sat back down into an armchair.

"It wasn't my idea to become the king. It was you who persuaded me into being the king. Don't forget that," Razak said.

"I do remember, sadly. Anyway, I'll arrange for a rescue team."

Elle got up from the armchair readying herself to leave. When she reached the door she turned back and said, " you were quite harsh on those poor parents. They had just lost a child. You should have been more considerate."

"It's better they believe their son is dead. Or else it would hurt even more to hear about his death from the rescue team."

"True. But you could have avoided bringing up their dire situation back when they came to our country."

"I know. I shouldn't have said that"said the king, regret filled his every word.

"I know being a king is not easy, but you are the only person who can handle it. So please try to be a bit more patient next time." Elle knew how much work Razak had put into making this small city-state into an independent sovereign kingdom. 

"Yes I will," said the king.

"Bye then. I'll see you tomorrow," said Elle leaving the room.

"Yes I will," said the king, his gaze once again turning back to the garden in front of him.

*****

The next day the king surveyed the city markets in person, something he used to do once every month. The economy was a very important aspect of the kingdom and its main source of income was taxes levied on businesses. And the markets in the heart of the city was where the most valuable trades took place. So visiting those places was something the king decided to do ever since he sat on the throne.

And its effect was very apparent. The constant surveillance by the king himself made the businesses more prosperous. The ground realities gave him the right information on what sort of policies to formulate and what changes to be made in the governance. Shady practices became less and less prevalent and the economy boomed.

The report on the details of the rescue mission was sent to the king by Elle's personal guards. 

'A two-man mission huh. A water caster and an augmenter, Rank 2 level 3 and rank 1 level 2 respectively. Not the ideal combination but it will do for now,' he thought going through the report.

To take down the creatures of the first delve, these two were more than enough. 

'The letter was brought by Elle's own guards. She didn't want anyone else to find out about this mission, just like I wanted,' Razak thought, reminiscing how great of a help she was in running this small kingdom.

After the day's meetings were done, he went straight to his room. Inside he found Elle waiting with two men standing beside her.

"I hope you read their files that I sent you," asked Elle and the king nodded.

"Quite the odd group. A water caster and an augmenter. Are you sure they can work together?" The king asked, not caring much about the two standing inside the room.

"We've worked together on many occasions and you can believe me when I say we are more than enough to handle the monsters of the first delve," the guy in a deep blue robe said. 

'So he is the caster and the other guy in the leather chest piece and brown trousers is the augmenter. Good,' thought Razak, "Well if you say so," he said instead.

"The mission is a simple rescue operation. Just bring back the kid. I'm sure Elle has discussed the other details."

"They have been briefed," Elle said.

"Since the kid got abducted in the northern Plains you should use the outpost near there. It might help you two in finding him," the King said.

"Yes that is what we are planning on," concurred the mage.

"Before you leave is there anything you want to ask?"

"Nothing much, just get the gold ready because we'll be back before you know it," said the augmenter.

'Well, at least he is confident,' thought Elle.

"As long as you come back in one piece, Nok and Sok of the Dun family, you will be rewarded for your service," the king promised.

And with that, the two left the room along with Elle.

'Wherever you are kid, this is all I can do for you as the king. The rest is up to you. Survive. Survive until they can find you.'